What Came Through The Wormhole: A Crossover
by Ontogenesis
Summary: This is a crossover of TRC and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The TRC gang suddenly appears on the station, much to the shock of the DS9 crew. How will they manage to find Sakura's feather while under suspicion?


**Title:**_ What Came Through The Wormhole: A Star Trek: Deep Space 9 / Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles Crossover_

**Pairing:** KuroxFai  
**Disclaimer:** TRC characters were hatched from the collective hive-brain known as CLAMP. DS9 characters belong to Paramount.  
**Spoilers:** TRC, Chapitre 125+. DS9, Season 1.

TRC notes:

Setting: sometime in the future, post-Infinity world. Fai is still a vampire but has returned to his self-appointed role as "Mommy" and he's definitely on better terms with Kurogane. Real!Syaoran has become closer to the group, although he's still reserved. Also note that Real!Syaoran shares many similarities to Clone!Syaoran in this story – this is intentional (keep in mind that Clone!Syaoran was sharing a piece of Real!Syaoran's heart, Real!Syaoran spent years watching Clone!Syaoran – they are going to be more similar than not, in my opinion.) This fic is not told from the POV of any of the TRC gang. Thus, no explanations are given in the story for the above developments.

DS9 notes:

Setting: Early in Season 2, which does affect the characters' ranks, relationships, behavior, etc. If you're not familiar with the series, I recommend Wikipedia.

As usual, comments, criticism, and opinions are appreciated. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.

* * *

_Scene I._

"Odo to Commander Sisko."

Commander Benjamin Sisko hit his comm badge with slightly more force than was called for. "_What_ is it, Constable? I'm in the middle of a meeting with Chief O'Brien. But I'm certain this is more important than our _unstable fusion reactor._"

There was a pause of anticipation over the comm link, and Sisko just _knew _that the constable was relishing the news he was about to unload. Odo did so enjoy being the bearer of bad news and thus was uniquely suited to the job of Chief Security Officer. "Nothing of significance, Commander, except that Major Kira and several security guards are engaged in a stand-off with a ninja, a pirate, two children, and a stuffed talking animal on the Promenade. Our visitors are demanding to speak to you before they surrender."

Sisko blinked. Hard. But a commander of Deep Space 9 couldn't let anything faze him for long, if he wanted the station to remain in orbit for more than fifteen minutes. "What kind of weapons are they equipped with, and where exactly on the Promenade?" he demanded briskly as he stood up.

"Swords and an unconscious girl, outside of Garak's shop," came the dry reply. "I did tell you we were fighting a ninja and a pirate, right? I'd advise you to hurry. Right now the Major is demonstrating admirable restraint, but you know how itchy her trigger finger is."

Sisko let out a deep sigh. Major Kira possessed about as much restraint as one could reasonably expect from a woman who'd been both a war refugee and a resistance fighter on an occupied planet; that meant he had five minutes max before the Promenade became a blood bath. "Yes, Constable, I'm aware. Keep the situation under control; I'll be there immediately." He nodded apologetically to O'Brien, calling out over his shoulder as he raced through the glass doors of his office. "Meeting postponed, we'll continue later."

O'Brien shrugged nonchalantly to the now-empty office. He'd seen stranger while serving on the crew of the USS_ Enterprise _NCC-1701-D under Captain Picard. "Just business as usual."

_Scene II._

By the time Sisko arrived outside Garak's shop, there was already a group of spectators ringing the excitement, chattering about spies and crossfire and "The Prophets" as they eyed the tableau. Major Kira caught Sisko's eye first; her flaming red hair and matching jumpsuit always stood out against the gritty, dark architecture of the station. Her jaw was set in rigid defiance as she aimed a phaser squarely at the chest of an extremely tall human man who dwarfed her petite figure. As Sisko pushed his way through the crowd, he saw that the man had the tip of his long sword pressed against the major's throat, but he was so still that even his black cape was motionless. Two Star Fleet officers flanked Major Kira's left and right, their phasers drawn and trained on the tall man's companions - a brown-haired boy who also wielded a sword, and a thin man who stood with his back turned towards the whole mess. Sisko spotted two small feet dangling over the thin man's arms, and realized that the man was shielding the other child.

It was a bad situation. One that called for diplomacy.

Sisko strode to position beside Major Kira and flashed his infamous smile at the visitors, the one that showed all of his beautiful, strong teeth. "Now that I'm here as you requested," he began soothingly, "... you can explain exactly **why the hell **you've got your swords pointed at my officers and why I shouldn't throw you all into the brig and leave you there for three months!"

Major Kira began to speak in short, clipped tones, her gaze and aim not wavering from the tall man – the ninja, Sisko decided. "They suddenly beamed into the middle of the Promenade with no warning or clearance. There are no ships scheduled to come through the Wormhole today, either. I assume this is part of a surprise invasion attempt gone wrong. Probably Cardassian-backed."

"She drew her weapon first. I'm not apologizing, and I don't know or care who the hell the Cardio-ans are," growled the ninja, and Sisko noticed his eyes were a startling red color and wondered if the man were indeed human and how exactly complicated this situation was about to get.

"You'd better just confess right now, Mister, or I'm going to have your balls for my lunch, which you so rudely interrupted by beaming into the middle of the station and_ the middle of my salad without clearance_," the major snapped back, her ridged nose twitching in anger.

"I don't _care _who drew first," Sisko shouted, letting his voice ring out in indignant, resonant tones that rang throughout the entire Promenade (he'd been told he had a voice for the stage, but it seemed to come in handy for running a station, rather more often than he preferred.) "I'm ordering you to drop your swords right now and give me my explanation!"

The ninja started as if he were about to protest again, but then a smooth, cultured voice broke in. "Of course we'd be happy to do that, Captain, but can we have your assurance that your crew won't shoot us when we're disarmed? We've just newly arrived and we're not familiar with your country's laws. That's why we insisted on meeting you."

The thin man, Sisko thought, furrowing his brow. He sounded like a damn diplomat. Sisko hated diplomats almost as much as he hated unexpected visitors, but he knew how to play the game. "You have my word as a Federation Commander that you will not be harmed," Sisko said, privately thinking to himself that the two men were fortunate to have children in their party; there was really no other reason that the major would have hesitated to shoot – phasers set on stun rarely killed adults, but there were no guarantees for children.

"Okay, Kuro-pon, Syaoran-kun! You heard the Commander!" chirped the thin man with a downright obscene cheerfulness. Sisko distinctly heard the ninja swear under his breath about killing "that lanky bastard" for mutilating his name as he and the boy both dropped their swords and raised their hands up in surrender. At Sisko's raised hand, Major Kira and the security officers did not move to apprehend the visitors, but nor did they lower their phasers.

"About your explanation, Commander, I'm going to turn around very slowly so I can talk to you face-to-face." The thin man gingerly turned around as if he half-expected him to go back on his word and open fire, which puzzled Sisko: even here on the outskirts of the Alpha Quadrant, the Federation was known for treating its prisoners fairly. The thin man – the pirate, Sisko decided, noticing the garishly beaded patch over the man's left eye – held a young girl, who, judging from the slackness of her limbs, was unconscious as Odo had said. Sisko hadn't seen the shapeshifter on the Promenade yet but assumed the constable was waiting for the right moment to make a move if necessary.

"My name is Fai," the man said, "and these are my companions – Sakura-chan, Syaoran-kun, Kuro-wan, and Mokona. Mokona transported us here because we're... on a quest for the princess. We apologize for not following your landing protocol, but we don't have that much control over where exactly we land."

"Mokona does Mokona's best!" protested a high-pitched voice, and Sisko realized the voice had come from the small white animal that was pressing itself against the girl's face in a manner that seemed almost human. "I know, no one's blaming you," crooned Fai, patting its head reassuringly. "Maybe you don't," growled the ninja, "but that damned pork bun dropped me on my head again_ – _into _that woman's_ lunch."

There were indeed traces of salad dressing in the ninja's black hair. No wonder Kira was pissed. "You don't actually expect me to believe that this... creature, this 'Mokona', transported you onto the space station, do you?" Sisko asked, incredulous yet intrigued. It was, by far, the most outlandish story he'd heard during his stay on DS9, and that was saying quite a lot since Quark and Garak were both imaginative liars. "And furthermore, you claim this child is your princess, yet you are all wearing distinctly different clothing as if you don't even live in the same climate– you're dressed like an Inuit and your princess is dressed for desert temperatures, and your friend's playing dress-up like he's an ancient Japanese warrior."

Fai did not look even the slightest bit worried. He smiled slowly, a lazy, dazzling smile that – like Sisko's initial smile – was not particularly friendly but rather one that suggested that someone was about to get eaten. "I apologize for the confusion. I never said that we were from the same country, although we are all serving the princess in her quest. Rather, you could say we were all... called together from separate paths and separate countries by destiny to aid her in the time of her need. She is not well, as you can clearly see. It's a sickness of spirit from which she cannot completely recover until she's finished her journey. And that journey's brought us here, to this station, and I'm asking for your permission and your kindness, Commander, in letting us continue that journey." The man's voice had increased in volume and charm throughout his speech, and Sisko realized that the cunning bastard had been delivering his speech for the benefit of the crowd. He wondered if the man had overheard snatches of the crowd's conversations, and correctly guessed that a significant number of them were quite religious and would be swayed by such words. In particular, the Bajorans were quite sensitive to religious matters, especially since their religion had sustained them through years of brutal Cardassian occupation. Sisko had felt Major Kira stir at his side at the man's words - even with all her toughness, she wasn't immune to such an emotional appeal.

He himself was in a particularly rough spot since he had been officially designated the Emissary of the "Wormhole Prophets" - the fascinating, superior life-forms that the Bajorans worshiped as gods. He couldn't just brush off a "spiritual plea" made on behalf of a sick little girl and hope to maintain his credibility with the Bajorans. Nor could he treat the girl coldly from the political standpoint of the Federation – whether or not she was actually a princess couldn't be verified immediately – but if she were, the Federation desperately needed all the allies it could get in this distant, hostile sector of the Alpha Quadrant. Yet he couldn't exactly just let the sword-brandishing incident slide (even if he were inclined to do so, which he certainly was _not_); the commander of a highly strategic and desirable station couldn't afford to show weakness.

Sisko quickly decided on a compromise and leveled his gaze at Fai. "Of course, we will discuss this young lady's 'quest' at further detail, and **if** I'm satisfied by what I hear, she will be granted the access to the station that she needs. But first she's going to our sickbay for a medical evaluation, while you two," Sisko turned to the boy and the ninja-- "are going to be detained in the brig for brandishing weapons at Federation officers." Sisko pointed a finger at Fai. "And you as well, because I'm holding you _responsible_ as the ringleader of this party."

The 'ring-leader' smiled sheepishly. "Of course, I understand that me and Kuro-pon have to be punished; we are awfully troublesome, yes? But can't Syaoran-kun stay with Sakura-chan, please? I promise he won't cause any trouble, but Sakura-chan will be upset if she wakes up and doesn't see any of us."

Sisko was going to say "no" but then he met the eyes of the boy, soft and brown and pleading. There was a fierce determination in those eyes, but a deep pain as well that Sisko had only seen before in the eyes of refugee children. He couldn't help but think of his son, Jake. These children couldn't be much older... and Sisko doubted that the young man would be likely to cause problems trouble without his adult companions and his sword. "Alright," Sisko said gruffly, "but if you cause any trouble, young man, you will go _straight_ to the brig."

"Thank you, sir." The boy bowed from his waist, then turned to take the girl from the thin man.

"What about Mokona?!" asked the white creature, bouncing up and down on thin man's shoulder.

"And _what_ manner of life form are you?" Sisko asked, deciding that it didn't look particularly harmful, alleged abilities aside.

"Mokona is Mokona!" the creature chirped, turning a pirouette.

"I see." Sisko arched an eyebrow. "You can accompany this young lady and young man to the infirmary." He just_ knew _Bashir was going to hyperventilate with glee upon seeing the creature. He'd probably get a few published research papers out of it. Sisko then gave orders to the security officers – several more had arrived on the Promenade during the exchange – and four moved to escort the two men to the brig, while one was to escort the children to the sickbay. The ninja shot him a dirty look as his sword was confiscated by Major Kira, but did not resist otherwise as he was led away with the pirate.

"Commander, I assume you wish for me to interrogate our prisoners?" asked Odo quietly as he appeared behind Sisko, seemingly out of nowhere. Even when Odo was not using his shape shifting talents, he was quite capable of remaining in the background when he did not wish to be seen.

"Of course. Find out what their _real_ purpose is, how they got on this station, where they came from. Be careful to adhere to standard protocol, though. If that girl really is a princess, our actions will probably be reviewed by headquarters later and you know how they obsess over every detail."

Odo nodded. As soon as the shapeshifter had left, someone began clapping. "_Wonderful_ show, Commander! You handled that with both sensitivity and a show of strength. Really, I couldn't have done better myself, and I must thank you for arranging for the whole incident to take place in front of my shop."

Sisko felt a smirk tug at his lips, despite his weariness. "I hardly arranged this for your entertainment, Garak. And I don't suppose you'll make this easy on me and confess that this_ is _all actually part of an elaborate Cardassian scheme, will you?"

Garak's blue eyes widened impossibly. "Major Kira's wild speculations aside, Commander, if those people were part of an _actual_ Cardassian plot, I'd have to disown Cardassia out of sheer embarrassment. I _do_ have a sense of pride, you know."

_Scene III._

"It's okay, really. I'm not going to _eat_ her," Dr. Julian Bashir said pragmatically, tricorder hovering in the air above the girl, who still lay unconscious on the biobed exam table.

The boy frowned, his brown eyes still mistrustful. Bashir had noticed that the boy had been tense as soon as he'd entered the infirmary, and he hadn't relaxed even a bit.

Bashir sighed. The commander had pulled him aside privately and asked him to be sensitive with the boy, which of course pleased him since the commander _knew_ that he could count on him, despite his being rather young to be the chief medical officer. "Tell you what, Syaoran," Bashir said as a sudden flash of inspiration struck him, "how about me examining you with the equipment first? Then after you see that there's nothing wrong with it, I can examine your friend, okay?"

Syaoran nodded. "Perfect," said Bashir, pulling up two chairs for them. He figured that Syaoran wouldn't be as threatened if they were both on about the same level, as opposed to him hovering over the boy. Bashir handed the tricorder to Syaoran. "Why don't you look at it first? As you can see, it's really just a measurement and recording device, albeit an incredibly sensitive one."

There was a definite spark of interest in Syaoran's eyes, and he began to poke at the buttons eagerly. "I can read this language," he announced, pleased.

"Why does that surprise you? You speak standard Basic perfectly without even a trace of an accent."

"Mokona translates speech for us, but Mokona doesn't translate words. I can read a lot of languages, though," the boy said idly as he continue to fiddle with the tricorder, programming it to scan his surface temperature. "Wow, this is amazing. We should get one of these."

"I'm afraid they're probably out of your price range, young man," chuckled Bashir, rather pleased. "I've got some other equipment in here that you can look at later, if you'd like."

"That would be great," Syaoran said shyly, a faint hint of a smile on his face as he carefully handed the tricorder back to Bashir. "Please go ahead and examine Princess Sakura. I'm sorry that I... thank you for being patient with me."

Bashir stood up, smiling. "Don't worry about it. Lots of people get nervous in infirmaries and hospitals. I think it's the needles, although we don't use those so much anymore, lucky you!"

"It's not hospitals... it's this station's architecture. There's a lot of glass and metal, and it's dark..." the boy's voice trailed off.

"Well, again, a lot of people – humans, anyway – find the Cardassian design a bit unsettling. I did myself, at first: it's _so_ cold and metallic and dark. But you'll get used it soon enough."

Syaoran nodded.

"Mokona wants to be scanned too!" The small white rabbit-thing who was sitting on the girl's biobed had been quiet until now. Bashir decided to humor it. He hadn't been too excited to see it; it was simply an incredibly well-made robot with an A.I. chip (which was more O'Brien's area of interest.) Someone had obviously thought it would be cute to design a translator to look like a talking rabbit. There were no genuine sentient species that small – there just wasn't enough space for a brain capable of higher functions. And Bashir certainly knew it wasn't capable of beaming people around; he didn't need all his medical degrees to know_ that_.

With a patronizing smile, Bashir waved the tricorder over the robo-rabbit. The tricorder beeped and flashed wildly, and Bashir's jaw dropped at the readings he was receiving. This was _no_ robot, but he wasn't certain exactly what the hell it was.

The tricorder shorted.

"...what **are** you?" Bashir exclaimed as the ruined tricorder sparked in his hands.

"Mokona is Mokona," the creature said smugly.

Bashir just knew that inside, it was laughing at him.

_Interlude. _

Really, the timing had been perfect. Everyone in the station was fixated on the new visitors and their talking bunny – and mostly importantly, that everyone included that pain-in-the-ass constable. Codename M thought it was downright unethical for the station to employ a constable who wasn't limited to one shape, but that was just one of his many, many grievances with the Federation (actually, he had so many of them that he'd taken to keeping a list in his back pocket.)

But then again, some kind of shit was _always_ going down on DS9.

Codename M looked down at the lifeless, desiccated Andorian at his feet. "Nothing personal. Statements must be made, I hope you understand." He frowned at the wall in front of him. Now if he could just remember how to spell "oppressors." Next time, he would definitely bring his electronic dictionary.

_Scene IV._

"So you're saying... that the rabbit made your tricorder short-circuit?" Sisko steepled his hands in front of his face as he waited for Bashir's reply. There were varying degrees of incredulity on the faces of the other officers seated around the conference table in the wardroom: Constable Odo, Major Kira, Chief O'Brien, and Lieutenant Jadzia Dax.

"_Tricorders._ Perhaps 'made' is a wrong choice of words; I don't think the shorting was intentional. But scanning the, rab-er, Mokona--definitely causes the circuits to overload: it happened three times!" Bashir said, gesturing wildly with his hands. "Mokona is definitely a unique life form. I simply _must_ study it further. "

"Three times? I admire your dedication to scientific advancement, Doctor, but try not to destroy any more Federation equipment," Sisko said dryly. "What is the status of the girl?"

"She's still unconscious but stable, so she's not in any immediate danger. Frankly, it's rather perplexing: I can't determine a physical cause for her condition: it's as if her body simply decided to put her into an extended REM cycle. The result is that she's dreaming and just can't wake up right now. According to Syaoran, this happens to her frequently, and they never know exactly when she'll wake up." Bashir paused and frowned. "I did find a lot of evidence of physical trauma on her body, and Syaoran's as well. During the previous months, it seems that girl has suffered severe damage to her right leg –some sort of bar was impaled straight through the leg, above her ankle." Bashir pulled a face. "Really, she got some shockingly primitive treatment for those injuries – her shattered bones were reinforced with metal instead of being regrown. My guess is that she walks with a limp."

Sisko frowned. "Can it be fixed?"

"Of course," Bashir said. "When she wakes up, I'll discuss it with her."

"Do you have any reason to suspect that these injuries were caused by their traveling companions?" Sisko asked delicately. Since the children's guardians were currently in Federation custody, the welfare of the minors was his responsibility.

Bashir shook his head. "When I even hinted at that possibility, Syaoran got rather defensive and he said that they've all been hurt at one point or another because they often have to travel through hostile countries on their quest. According to him, those two men are mentors to the children and they've made a lot of sacrifices for them. So then I tried to ask Syaoran about the one you said wears an eye patch – it's important for me to know since his eye may have not received proper medical treatment, like that girl's leg – and his face grew really pale and he clammed up."

"That's certainly an interesting piece of news." Sisko turned to Major Kira. "What is Kai Winn's opinion on these travelers?"

"As you had thought, Commander. The girl's "quest" is to be regarded as a religious one, and Bajor requests that she be given access to the station as needed, as well as Bajor itself. The fact that she's currently in a 'dream coma' only gives her added credibility because several of our famous prophets have also experienced comas before receiving spiritual epiphanies." Kira cut her eyes at Bashir. "Since Boy Wonder over there can't even scan that rabbit thing and prove it doesn't beam people around, we don't have an easy way to disprove these charlatans either."

"Why Major Kira, you're not a believer?" Sisko said, his baritone voice unable to disguise his amusement.

"Not in these quacks."

Sisko turned to the shapeshifter. "Constable, what have you managed to learn from our 'quacks'?"

Odo raised his hairless eyebrows. "Not much of use, I'm afraid. I've been keeping them in separate cells, and I also interviewed them separately in order to see if I could come up with discrepancies in their accounts, but so far I haven't been able to catch them in a lie or contradiction. They claim to be from different countries – and the language analysis I ran confirms this. The ninja is indeed speaking a dialect of Japanese, but not one that's been spoken for over a thousand years. The pirate's language is simply not in any of the databases I referenced."

"What did they say about how they arrived on the station?" Sisko asked.

"They insist on sticking to the magical rabbit story. I questioned them about cloaks and micro-transporters, but they seemed puzzled, as if they know nothing about basic technology." Odo hesitated, a rare expression of uncertainty flickering across his face. "When they were being escorted to the brig, they both paused when they caught glimpse of the star field when we passed the window – they just stopped and gaped like first-time space travelers."

"An act?" Bashir said.

"Of course it's an act!" Odo snapped. "The problem is that they insist on sticking to it, so I can't glean any useful information from them. None of the usual threats or punishments seem to work on them. I asked the big, surly one if he'd like a little taste of real prison for attempt to assault an officer, and he just snorted and said that he doubted it could be worse than having to deal with 'that lanky bastard.' " Then he demanded his sword back."

"I'd like to see him _try_ to get it back." Kira's eyes flashed in anticipation of a rematch.

"Easy, Major," Sisko said. "Chief, is there any chance that this rabbit could actually be capable of generating some sort of transportation field?"

O'Brien snorted. "Well, I haven't had a chance to examine it yet, but not likely. You know how big our transporters for just one person are; there's no way that a small creature could create a field big enough to beam four people around. Plus, where's the point of origin? Since no ships entered the wormhole then, we know they didn't beam over from a ship. The only other possibility is Bajor, and last I checked Bajorans didn't speak Japanese."

"That makes sense, but I'm very uneasy knowing that four people were able to enter the station unexpectedly and we still can't figure out _how_ they did it. In the worst case scenario, it's possible this is just a precursor to some sort of invasion." The lines around Sisko's mouth deepened. "Of course, Federation brass doesn't see it that way. They insist that the girl be granted diplomatic privileges for the time being, so that means we cannot monitor her as I'd prefer. _However_ – I don't see that her immunity extends to the members of her party. Odo, I want you to release the two men. We're not going to learn any more from them if they simply sit in the brig. I'd like you to trail them around the station and see where they go, what they do, what they talk about... it's impossible for them not to let something slip. Meeting adjourned."

_Scene V. _

With a sigh, Sisko rubbed at his forehead and rolled his chair away from his computer, although several several unanswered communiques still blinked naggingly on the monitor. Federation Headquarters never ceased to amaze him with the sheer amount of "paperwork" they could spawn at a moment's notice. Most of the latest paperwork involved the continued problems with the power generator. He hadn't even had a chance to interview the princess yet, although Bashir had notified him that the girl had come out of her "dream coma" over two days ago.

Desperate for a diversion, Sisko picked up the communication padd he kept on his desk. When his crew knew he was occupied and cranky with desk work, they often sent non-urgent messages to his padd. A smile tugged at Sisko's lips as he realized that most of the new messages were from Odo. One of Sisko's secret pleasures was reading the constable's terse, dry narrative about his daily activities around the station. Sisko skimmed over the messages quickly: they mostly concerned the new visitors, (although naturally Odo had included his routine report on Quark - Sisko suspected that harassing the Ferengi was on Odo's daily "to do" list.) After being released, the ninja and the pirate – Kurogane and Fai – Sisko mentally corrected himself, had immediately left for the infirmary to check on the girl. They'd ended up rotating shifts with the boy to stay with her in the infirmary; Bashir would only allow one visitor at a time as the infirmary was rather small. Those who were not occupied in the infirmary wandered around the station, seemingly as innocent tourists, but Odo noted that their conversations with the more chatty natives tended to be fairly long compared to the usual run-of-the-mill tourists. The topics of their conversations were also odd: they asked many questions about things that any person from a civilized, space-faring world would already know, like how replicators worked and how exactly the station managed to generate its gravity. The boy in particular seemed fascinated by by the explanations; Odo had seen him scribbling notes in a small, paper book he carried.

What Odo found the most interesting – and Sisko agreed – was that occasionally the visitors would ask the locals if they'd witnessed any strange occurrences on the station lately, anything out of the ordinary or unexplained phenomena, which had netted them _a lot_ of answers. Sisko frowned and drummed his fingers on his desk. Of course, if he asked them about it, he was certain they'd try to pass it off as being part of their spiritual quest... and he couldn't exactly order them not to speak to civilians as long as they weren't asking about the station's military capabilities or strategic points. Still, it made him uneasy for reasons he couldn't put his finger on.

The padd beeped once. _New message._

From: Constable Odo To: Commander Sisko Re: Our Magical Princess

_Thought you might like to know that our princess's spiritual journey has brought her to Quark's fine establishment. She's cleaning everyone out at Dabo._

Sisko looked at his computer screen, where the unanswered communiques still blinked at him demandingly. Sisko thought of the priceless opportunity to watch a teenage girl kick the asses of the seasoned players at Quark's. Sisko looked at the computer again.

The computer was abandoned.

The blast of chatter and laughter emanating from Quark's Bar and Restaurant was louder than usual. Sisko gave his pullover a self-conscious tug before walking inside. He was so used to simply wearing his uniform everywhere that it was a like a second skin to him; he felt rather _exposed_ without it. But Sisko wanted to gather information, and people's tongues tended to be looser if he weren't wearing his uniform with all the shiny pips on it.

Sisko paused in the entranceway, trying to peer through the clouds of smoke wafting through the air. Most of the noise was coming from one particular Dabo table – a large group had ringed around the table, shouting "Dabo!" occasionally and giving unsolicited advice to the players. Everyone looked quite excited.

"Ben!" Jadzia Dax waved at him from where she was leaning against the bar and watching the game, a mug of Warnog in her hand. She was also dressed in civilian clothes. "You look nice," Dax said loudly as he approached, so she could be heard over the laughter and clinks of dice and glass. "That color brings out your eyes. I'd almost forgotten that you _owned_ regular clothes."

Sisko flashed her a smile. "Stop trying to flatter me, old man. So how's the game going?" From this position, he could see the face of the princess. She had a pair of startlingly beautiful green eyes, but Sisko found them striking for the determination in them. And the sadness. It reminded him of the boy.

"Amazing, I've never seen anything like it – she's won _every_ round she's played. And she's still learning how to play the game, apparently." Dax grinned, the skin around her eyes crinkling. "And look at the faces of the other players, they're smiling even though they're losing. I know you don't really don't believe in things like luck, but it certainly seems like she's got _something_ on her side. At least Quark thinks so – look."

Sisko followed her finger to a table adjacent to the game. Quark was sitting with the pirate, who was wearing an even flashier eye patch than previously, one with sequins that glittered whenever he moved his head. Quark was using the wheedling, soothing voice he favored for negotiations. "Since you don't know exactly how long you and your friends are going to be here, perhaps it wouldn't be a bad idea for one of you to have some steady employment for security. And she seems like a fine, intelligent young lady, I could even teach her a little about my business, give her some long-term skills. Also, it would look _great _on her resume; Quark's is a reputable establishment, well-known throughout the Alpha Quadrant."

Sisko almost spit out his drink in a fit of laughter. Well, Quark's _was_ well-known. That part was true.

Fai had plopped his hand under his chin, his single blue eye regarding the Ferengi lazily. "And you'd benefit from having a pretty dealer in your employ, one whom customers don't mind losing to."

"Well, _yes_. It's a win-win situation."

"But I think what you're really interested in is figuring out how Sakura-chan can win, even when you've rigged that table," Fai said evenly.

Quark screwed his face up in the Ferengi approximation of righteous indignation. "I don't know what you're implying, sir, but this is an _honest_ establishment."

Fai laughed, a light, airy chuckle that suggested he found Quark's conniving amusing. "I can't claim otherwise, since I don't know what counts for honesty around here. As far as employment, that's up to Sakura-chan, although I think she's playing just because you kindly invited her to try a game."

Dax nudged Sisko in the side. "Of course he can afford to act smug. That girl's won enough to keep them set comfortably for at least a month." Sisko nodded. He knew they'd needed that money, too: when Odo had searched the men, they hadn't been carrying any currency recognized in Federation, just some strange bits of metal that they claimed was money from the last world they had visited.

Fai looked up then and smiled as if he'd just noticed their observation, although Sisko suspected he'd been aware the whole time. "Hello, Commander!" he called out, waving his arm enthusiastically. "Won't you and your lovely friend come sit with us?"

"Oooh, I like him already," Dax whispered teasingly as they walked to the table. Sisko noticed that Fai had swapped his ridiculous coat for a snugly-fitting shirt with sleeves that flared around his expressive hands. It looked like something Garak had designed, and Sisko found that he did not like the thought of those two men in the same room, let alone having an actual conversation.

Quark mumbled something about checking on the bar and excused himself as soon as they sat down. Fai and Dax shook hands and introduced themselves. Then Dax asked him how he'd known the table was rigged, to which Fai gave a vague answer about numbers and watching Quark's body language. "Really, anyone could have figured it out with a little close observation," he said with a dismissive shrug.

"Where are your other companions?" Sisko asked.

Fai pointed to the opposite end of the bar. "Mokona, Kuro-wan, and Syaoran-kun are drinking together. Don't they look_ cute_ together?"

Sisko arched an eyebrow at the tableau. The white creature was indeed drinking, with the aid of a straw since it couldn't reach the top of its very tall glass of Trixian bubble juice. The boy was also drinking something absentmindedly, but he was sitting backwards in his seat so he could watch the princess, his eyes as intent and unwavering as a guard dog. Next to him, the ninja sat nursing a bottle of blue-colored liquid. He shot Sisko a grumpy glare.

The mage shook his head melodramatically. "Poor Kuro-tan. He doesn't like your station's synthetic sake so he had to settle for something else."

"So you allow the children in your care to gamble _and_ drink?" Sisko asked, a slight edge to his voice.

Fai smiled. "You have a young son, don't you, Commander?"

Sisko nodded grudgingly. "A little younger than these two."

"When he comes of age, though, you won't have any say over whether or not he gambles or drink, will you?"

"Not _technically_." And technically, his own father didn't have any sway over his life anymore. But the Siskos had been never overly concerned about technicalities; family was family and that meant meddling rights.

"So then, he can drink and gamble as much as he likes, whenever he likes, without having had any experience while he was still under adult supervision. Different philosophies, I suppose." Fai shrugged as if to say that it were a matter of little importance. "Still... these two aren't really our children," he said, the smile slipping a bit. "We just happen to be on the same journey. If those kids want our advice, we'll give it to them. But we won't make them take it, and we won't stop them from doing as they wish."

"That's ridiculous!" Sisko growled, leaning forward angrily. "Children don't have the maturity and experience to have that kind of responsibility. It's a burden they aren't ready to shoulder -- that's why they're placed in the care of adults!"

Some terribly sad emotion like wistfulness flickered across Fai's eye. "We couldn't take the burden from those two, even if we tried." He took a long sip from his glass. "Do you believe in destiny, Commander?"

Sisko paused, wondering why the man might ask such a question. "It's possible that there might be a higher force or forces that can choose to alter events, to change the course of the future," he said carefully, thinking of the Prophets. "But do I believe in some sort of overarching 'destiny' that absolves us of our personal responsibility for the decisions we make, no. Whether your life is a success or failure is entirely up to you. It has nothing to do with destiny or fate."

Fai smiled brightly again, the wistfulness gone from his expression. "Ah, so practical! You remind me of someone I know. I guess that attitude comes in handy for a commander of such a big station... so tell me, how exactly did you end up here? You're from Earth, right?" He looked at Dax. "And you're not a human, but you're also a member of the Federation too, right?"

Sisko wanted to be annoyed that the man had switched topics, especially since Fai had seemed vulnerable and open to questions just a scant second ago. But the man's questions were good-natured and he appeared genuinely interested, so Sisko could hardly ignore them.

Sisko left Quark's bar that evening without having learned what he really wanted to know about the visitors' intentions, despite the combined efforts of himself and Dax. Fai was a master at evading questions neatly. He did learn, however, that the princess was indeed lucky; she'd managed to walk away from the table with all her winnings (although, being soft-hearted, she left a generous tip for the Dabo girls and other staff working that night); that the boy got drunk very easily and tried to challenge other patrons to a battle with straws; that the white rabbit considered itself to have "amazing dancing skills" and treated everyone in the restaurant to a bar tap-dance special; and that the ninja was the only human in known history to down three bottles of Romulan ale in a row and not pass out.

Sisko supposed the evening had not been a complete waste.

_Scene VI._

Odo had been Constable of DS9 long before the Federation had moved in. During his long employment, he'd had plenty of opportunity to research all the rules governing his conduct as constable of an international space station. His research had been rewarded with the discovery that the rules regarding _physical_ surveillance were nowhere as strict as the ones regarding electronic surveillance (for which you needed permission and had to fill out a lot nasty paperwork and wait for X number of days) since the rules had been designed on the assumption of the constable possessing a body limited to one shape. Silly solids.

Odo did not like waiting or paperwork, which was why he was currently posing as an oil painting of a basket of fruits in the quarters assigned to the ninja and the pirate. His observations of their excursions around the station had turned up precious little, so Odo was forced to conclude that the pair wisely kept their mouths shut while in public. But in the supposed safety of their rooms...

The doors to the room slid open, and Odo heard a pair of heavy feet trudge inside, accompanied by a softer pair of feet. "You drank too much of that Rommy-ale, Kuro-pin," the pirate practically sang as he helped his companion collapse on the sofa. Odo made a mental note to raid Quark's as soon as possible; Romulan ale was a Class A banned substance due to its overly intoxicating effects on just about every sentient species.

"Shut up, idiot. I only drank that much because that bastard alien, that Morn guy, kept egging me on. Anyway, I won our bet."

The pirate laughed as he brought a glass of water to his companion. "Kuro-chan can't back down from a competition, can he?"

The other man gulped the water noisily and then glared at the pirate through slitted red eyes. "At least I was learning something useful unlike you, over there flirting with that ass and that woman with spots."

The pirate gave the ninja what Odo supposed the pirate thought was a coy, seductive look. "I wasn't flirting! With the woman. But that commander does have a deep, sexy voice, doesn't he? He's quite nice to look at too."

"That bastard had my sword taken away! Don't flirt with him, idiot mage!"

The pirate pretended to be oblivious to his companion's anger and plopped down next to him on the sofa, burrowing close to him. He nuzzled the other man's neck. "Don't be jealous, Kuro-wanko. I like your voice better; it's more... _growly_. And I was keeping those two distracted so they wouldn't decide to bother you when you were trying to investigate. What did Morn tell you?"

"A hell of a lot. That man talks more than a bunch of damn gossiping women. But he said something interesting about this station's fusion reactor – it's the device that powers the whole station. It's been acting strange these past few weeks: its output keeps increasing and they don't know why."

"Hmm... that could definitely be caused by one of Sakura's feathers. And they don't seem to have any magic in this world, so they wouldn't be able to detect the feather. That's in our favor if there is a feather here. We could probably sneak it out without being noticed."

Odo felt the hackles on his neck rise (well, his "neck" which was currently an oil banana.) He should have guessed: they were smugglers! For some reason – perhaps a deal gone bad – they hadn't been able to get in touch with their contact and pick up their goods. Odo could only begin to imagine what the "feather" was if the pair thought it capable of interfering with a fusion reactor. Some new weapon? Some strange alien technology? "Magic" was probably a code word for the sensors capable of detecting the "feather." He'd definitely have to report this to Sisko and O'Brien as soon as possible.

"It won't be so easy," the ninja disagreed. "From what I've learned about the station's layout, the reactor's are in the Lower Core – that's off limits."

The pirate looked thoughtful. No doubt calculating a diabolical plan, Odo thought darkly. "Then we'll have to take things slow." Then he smiled as his companion began touch his chest and back. "You like my new outfit, don't you, Kuro-min? That nice Cardassian – Garak – designed it for me after I drew him a sketch of what I wanted. He used this really soft fabric... mmm, it feels good when you run your hands over it like that," he said, arching into the touch.

"I don't like him," the ninja growled, nipping at his companion's ear as he pushed him down onto the sofa. "He seems sneaky. Like that Space Time Bitch."

_Well, we agree on something_, Odo thought dryly. He disliked Garak even more than Quark, more because Garak was actually successful at being sneaky. Then Odo realized exactly what the two men were doing, and he mentally groaned to himself. Solid sex was _disgusting._

Odo desperately wanted to leave, but he couldn't exactly just liquefy himself and ooze out of the room while the two men were still awake. So Odo was forced to bear through every moan and growl and curse and gasp and meow (yes, the pirate actually _meowed_)as the two went at it like characters from one of Quark's trashy rent-a-Holosuite-programs.

Finally, when the torture seemed to be nearly over - the two looked exhausted and about ready to fall asleep – the pirate whined something about being hungry. Odo expected the ninja to tell the pirate to just use the damn replicator but instead he sat up and tilted his neck to the side. The pirate sidled up to the ninja, nuzzled his neck again – and **bit** him. At first, Odo thought it was just some bizarre human sex kink and that the pirate hadn't actually broken skin, but then the unmistakable coppery smell of blood assaulted his nostrils (which were currently two of the oil grapes but nonetheless capable of smell.) Odo watched in fascinated disgust as the pirate's tongue flickered out of his mouth like a cat's, lapping up every rivulet of blood on the ninja's neck.

Smuggling _and_ vampirism. Sisko would be positively thrilled.

_Scene VII._

"Julian, you just agreed that villain of _Meditations on a Crimson Shadow_ actually had the hero's hometown fire-bombed as a sign of his undying affection."

Bashir gave Garak a guilty smile and drummed his fingers on the Replimat table. "Oh, I did? I don't suppose I can convince you that there's a perfectly logical reason for that, can I?"

Garak took a bite of his salad, an exaggerated expression of deep contemplation on his ridged face. "Let me ponder that... no. Really, Doctor, you're making me jealous; this is the third time you've spaced out today. I bet you've been meeting some other tailor for lunch and reading his books instead of mine. Right now, you're so distracted about the plot of his latest recommendation – superior to mine in every way, of course- that you can't even pay attention."

Bashir laughed. "Don't be ridiculous. If you _must_ know, it has to do with my job, but I can't go into details. Federation secret." He mimed zipping his lips. "Frankly, I wish I could tell you, that I could do something. God, I feel like a little kid three weeks before Christmas!"

Intrigued, Garak widened his eyes and placed a hand on Bashir's forearm. "Federation secret? Christmas? _Do_ explain, Julian."

"About _Christmas_, Garak. I'd prefer not to get killed by Sisko, thanks. Christmas is a holiday on which most human children receive presents, usually special things they've been wanting all year. The thing is, the gifts are often wrapped and placed under the Christmas tree _weeks_ before Christmas, so it's real torture for the children to wait."

Garak nodded and slowly removed his hand, his eyes narrowing in thought. "Ah, delayed gratification is quite an effective torture technique. I'm impressed, though, I didn't think human parents had the resolve necessary for it. So you're basically saying that the Federation is like your dear parents torturing you because they won't let you 'open your present.' And for you, presents are usually things that intrigue you, something you can't figure out, and since you're a doctor, the things that tend to intrigue you are related to biology. Therefore, I deduce that you've been commanded not to investigate some medical mystery."

Bashir did his damnedest to keep a poker face, the one he utilized with ease whenever he played a spy in his favorite Holosuite program. But judging from Garak's triumphant expression, he'd failed miserably. _Smart, real smart, Julian, _Bashir thought crossly. He knew his IQ far outstripped Garak's, which is why it annoyed him that the Cardassian was able to run circles around him when it came to this sort of game.

In truth, he'd just attended a meeting with Sisko and the other officers, and Odo had described the vampiric behavior he'd witnessed while spying on Fai and Kurogane. Odo had also never seen Fai actually eat or drink anything else, despite his near-constant surveillance of the two. But Sisko had decided that neither vampirism or simply _discussing_ entering a restricted area was worth blowing Odo's cover. The commander wanted to wait for the visitors to actually make a move so they would have a better idea of what sort of smuggling the visitors were involved with and perhaps learn who their contacts were as well, although he'd also stationed security officers around the access corridors to the Lower Core. The commander's reasoning made sense, of course, but Bashir couldn't stand the thought that an _actual_ vampire might actually be on the same station and that he couldn't investigate him. There were many known vampire animal species (mostly bats) but no sentient ones. Until now, apparently.

"I wonder," Garak said, intently watching his face, "if it has anything to do with our new visitors, the ones who were so obliging by materializing right in front of my shop. I really appreciate a good show, you know."

"I'm not telling you anything," Bashir said, crossing his arms to show Garak that he was _really_ serious.

"Now, my dear doctor, I'm willing to share. Quark told me that big, broody one has been renting out one of the Holodecks to re-enact some sort of ancient Earth culture battle scene. And, he even paid extra to have the safety restraints taken off. Quark made him sign a waiver because it's quite dangerous."

Bashir couldn't help but be curious (and a little pleased that his suspicions that Garak paid Quark for information confirmed.) "What is his role in the reenactments?"

"The man pointed a _sword_ at Major Kira. What do you think? He chops and slices and dices his enemies. Apparently, a fairly large number of them. Quark confessed that he's terrified of him; whenever he comes out of the Holodeck, he's smiling."

"Wow. That is creepy. The girl's a little odd, too. When I offered to rehabilitate her leg, take the metal out, regrow the bones, she refused politely and said it was a reminder to her."

Garak leaned in closer and whispered in a low, husky voice that set Bashir's nerves on edge for some reason he couldn't quite put his finger on. "Do be careful in your investigations, Doctor. As utterly naive as you are, I'd hate to have you killed by some homicidal alien before I've had my way with you."

Bashir's comm badge beeped before he got a chance to ask Garak exactly what that was supposed to mean, not that he had been expecting a straight answer from Garak anyway.

"Dax to Bashir."

"Bashir here, I'm on lunch break. Is this an emergency?"

"Well... in the sense that your patient is already dead, no. The patient's been completely desiccated. Perhaps you could even say _drained_ to the last drop. See you in the infirmary. Dax out."

"Ah, the plot thickens!" Garak clapped his hands together, looking very, very pleased.

_Scene VIII._

Bashir looked up from his tricorder and exchanged a glance with Dax. "It seems we're getting the exact same readings – someone or _something_ sucked this poor man completely dry. He's got absolutely no blood or any sort of fluid left in his body. He's basically like a dried prune now."

"Thanks for that lovely comparison. Do you have any evidence that a vampire did this?" Sisko said as he stared at the shriveled body of the Andorian which was stretched out on the infirmary's biobed.

"You mean, like _bite marks_ or something? Commander, I have no experience dealing with _vampires_, I'm a doctor, not an exorcist! And what about that strange message that was found scrawled on the corridor wall?"

"Ah yes... 'Death to the Federation Oppressors! Return DS9 to its true owners, thieves!' " Odo recited in a monotone voice. "Along with a bunch of other drivel. But it's possible that message is just intended as a distraction from the killer's true motives. Garak informed me that whoever wrote it is not very good in Cardassian. He seemed personally affronted by the numerous spelling errors."

"We can't discount anything right now. Odo, go and fetch our vampire-pirate. I want him to be examined here. Doctor, you have my permission to run whatever tests you deem necessary to get to the bottom of this, and tell him he can go to **hell** if he's got a problem with it." Sisko's face was dark with anger as he strode out of infirmary. "No one gets away with murder on _my_ station."

_Interlude_.

Codename M sighed in irritation. Stupid Federation had been taking so long to find the first body that he'd gone and offed another idiot, placing it in a more obvious location, but it turned out that they'd finally found the first. According to the word on the corridor, they were even trying to pin the blame on those idiots who'd materialized in the middle of the Promenade. Stupid Federation, they were supposed to blame the Cardassians and bomb Cardassian Prime back to the Stone Age. He wondered, for a brief, panicky moment if it was because he'd spelled some words wrong in his manifesto on the wall. Thankfully, the moment passed quickly, and he decided it was all their fault as usual.

He pulled his grievance list out of his back pocket and scrawled in "incompetence." It was possible they'd never actually place the blame on Cardassia. Codename M frowned. Perhaps there was another way he could benefit The Cause. His mole had given him a rather tasty tip: the idiots were looking for some special weapon called "Feather"...

_Scene IX._

Christmas had come early on DS9.

At least, it had for Julian Bashir, who found himself torn between a mixture of giddiness, apprehension, and guilt. Giddiness because he currently had an alleged vampire on his exam biobed and he'd just been given _carte blanche _to run whatever tests he wished. Apprehension because said vampire was glaring at him silently (Bashir was extremely grateful that Fai was restrained on the table and that Sisko, Odo, and an armed guard were standing behind him – and that Fai's sword-happy boyfriend had been confined to his quarters with a guard, as were the boy and girl.) And guilt because he wasn't quite comfortable with the idea of examining a patient against his will, especially when it wasn't medically necessary to save the patient's life.

Fai had argued with Sisko that it was against Federation code to detain him without proof and examine him against his will, but Sisko had smiled sharply and responded that the Chief Medical Officer had the right to examine anyone who might pose a health hazard to other people on the station. Fai had been extremely offended by that answer and hadn't spoken since, despite Bashir's best attempts to get his medical history.

_Oh well. Time to unwrap the Christmas present. _Bashir nodded to Odo, who turned on the small recording device he was holding, in case any evidence was uncovered that they'd need later for a trial. "Now Fai," Bashir said soothingly as he held out the tricorder for Fai to look at, "Syaoran wasn't familiar with this equipment, so you're probably not either. It's just a measurement device. All you'll see is a light running over your body, but you won't feel anything."

Fai continued to glare at him so Bashir shrugged. "Commencing exam," he said for the benefit of the recorder as he began to scan Fai. "Please note that subject is undergoing the exam under objection. Medical history not available. Subject is a human male, I estimate mid-20s, about 1.8 meters tall, 62 kilograms. Heart rate, 40 beats a minute." Bashir frowned. "That's quite low. Are you an endurance athlete?" That would explain both his whipcord thinness and the low heart rate.

Fai did not answer, and Bashir sighed. "Surface body temperature also notably low, 28 degrees." Bashir finished taking the measurements. "Significant deviations found in the heart rate, body temperature, and basal metabolic rate. Also, subject's left eye is missing. Evidence suggests forcible removal," he announced for the recorder. Sisko shifted and Bashir knew that the captain was eager to ask him questions about the findings, but he would have wait until the recording was finished. Of course, he was rather excited himself, his mind racing to draw the links between the findings. "Recording completed. I will analyze the data with the infirmary's computer later, in particular I will focus on noted deviations. Now I will take a small sample of blood for analysis in our lab." Fai glared at him even more fiercely but did not otherwise resist as Bashir pushed up his sleeve and cleaned a small area with peroxide. He did not flinch as Bashir drew a small sample of blood.

"Now I will examine subject's left eye socket for possible infection."

"No." There was a cold, steely note in the refusal.

"I'm afraid you don't have a say in the matter, Fai," Bashir said kindly, pursing his lips. "And the readings I got on this were really quite nasty. You won't tell me what happened, but I'm frankly surprised that you survived the shock. It appears someone or something tore your eye out without any medical equipment at all, so I'm guessing they didn't bother to use anesthesia either. I need to make certain that the wound was treated properly – otherwise, you risk a brain infection."

"That's _my_ choice to take that risk."

"I'm your doctor now whether or not you like it, and I'm responsible for your health. Just bear with me, I promise it won't hurt." Bashir reached back around Fai's head for the strings of the eye patch.

"**Don't touch me,"** Fai hissed, his pupil shifting into a narrow slit like a cat's.

"My God!" Bashir cried in shock, jerking back. "No, I'm alright," he said quickly, holding up a hand to stop the other three men from lunging forward. "Just a little surprised." He took a few deep breaths to regain his composure and steady his voice. He was a doctor and he had a job to do. "Please note abnormal deviation in subject's pupil, apparently triggered by duress. Subject has begun to breathe heavily and perspire," Bashir noted for the record. He'd better hurry up and finish the examination before Fai got more worked up; since Fai hadn't answered his question about being an athlete, Bashir couldn't discount the possibility that Fai's low blood pressure actually meant he was at risk for strokes.

Bashir began to gingerly approach Fai again, noting that his breathing was now quite shallow and rapid. The poor man was _terrified_, and Bashir felt his stomach twist unhappily with guilt. Doctors were supposed to be comforters, not--

The displays behind the biobed exploded in a shower of sprays, and Bashir threw up an arm over his face. When he opened his eyes a moment later, he saw that Fai had ripped his hands free of the restraints and was staring at the smoking displays in shock. "I didn't mean to," the man whispered, then buried his face in his hands. "Don't touch me."

It was a plea.

_Scene X._

"I just visited my _patient_ in the brig."

Sisko looked up from his monitor to meet the accusing eyes of Bashir, who was shifting his weight from foot to foot on the other side of the black, glossy desk in his office. "He's not your patient anymore," Sisko said calmly. "We got the information we required for our investigation. And he's not ill."

"He _will_ be if this keeps up!" Bashir snapped. "I just came from visiting him the brig. He's completely unresponsive, he just sits on his cot and stares off into space. I think my trying to touch his eye caused him to go into a state of shock. And Odo tells me he's not eating either – he needs to be provided with artificial blood."

Sisko steepled his hands together. "So you have concluded that he is indeed a vampire?"

Bashir raked a hand through his hair in irritation. "I can't say that he's a 'vampire' since there's no standard to compare his measurements to. But he's definitely unique: his ability to regenerate tissue is incredible – the needle prick I gave him healed almost instantly. He's also much stronger than a normal human. As far as the needing blood, I can't find a solid biological reason as to why he can't process normal food, but Odo's observation with the blood feeding and the fact that he _won't_ eat normal food certainly suggests there's something to it. I want to give him artificial blood."

Sisko picked up the baseball he kept on his desk and stared at it for a long moment, as if divining answers from its stitched surface. "He'll be continued to be provided with standard fare for prisoners," Sisko said after a long moment.

"That's _starvation!_ I cannot in good conscience allow a patient to be treated this way!" Bashir slapped his palms on the table.

Sisko rose slowly from his desk, a flush beginning to spread over his face. "I understand that you took an oath, Doctor, but **so did I.** My primary responsibility is to the residents of this station, not to an uncooperative murder suspect. I don't think our 'vampire' is sick at all; it's called 'passive resistance.' He hopes that if he continues to pretend to be an invalid that he can get away with not answering our questions. Well, I'll see how long he can last on an empty stomach."

Bashir opened his mouth to protest but was interrupted by a beep from Sisko's comm badge.

"Sisko here."

"Commander, this is Odo. We've found another body, it appears to be desiccated just like the Andorian. And evidence suggests the murder happened while we had the pirate in custody."

"Where did--"

"Wait a moment, Commander. I'm receiving an urgent call." There was a pause, then Odo resumed, his voice sounding strained. "Commander, I've just been informed that our visitors have escaped."

"Which ones?"

"**All of them."**

Sisko blinked. Hard. He had four – five – escaped prisoners and an unknown murderer all on the loose. Where would they go? _Time for another split-second decision._ "Send ten security officers to the Promenade. Inform them that's possible these people may be desperate and may try to take hostages. Bring the rest of security officers to the Lower Core; I'll meet you there. I'll notify O'Brien and Major Kira. Sisko out."

He turned to Bashir. "Grab your emergency medical kit and gather your medical staff. Hurry."

Bashir swallowed. "Yes sir."

_Scene XI. _

Sisko, Bashir, Kira, O'Brien and several medics raced through the corridors of the Lower Core. It was dark, its winding corridors lit with foreboding red lights. Clearly, the Lower Core wasn't designed for humans but rather the huge machines that lived there, their rhythmic pulsing and humming somewhat unsettling for Sisko, who rarely had reason to visit "down below."

In the corridor ahead, Odo and several security officers were crouched around three bodies that lay still on the ground. Sisko's heart sank when he realized those bodies were clad in Federation security uniforms. Odo shook his head solemnly as Bashir and the medics raced to the bodies. "It's no use; they were desiccated." Sisko forced himself not to look at the shriveled faces of the deceased officers; he personally knew each officer assigned to DS9 and he could not allow grief to distract him now. He and the others left the medical team behind and raced ahead to the fusion power generator.

"You all realize," O'Brien wheezed as they ran, "that if you start a shoot-out inside this chamber, this whole damn station is going to be blown straight to hell. The reaction stabilizers weren't designed to handle that kind of abuse."

"I understand!" Sisko shouted back. "I just hope our intruders share your concern!"

Everyone frozen upon entering the chamber that housed the massive fusion power generator that fueled DS9. One of the access panels had been removed, exposing one of the six fusion reactors. It was glowing with an unearthly light that spilled out into the entire chamber. In front of the generator, a dark-haired man held the princess in a head-lock. He had a strange gun-like object pressed firmly against her temple. Across from the chamber, the ninja and the boy glowered impotently, their swords held out in front of them.

The dark-haired man threw a wild-eyed glance towards the doorway as Sisko and the crew entered. "So, the _Federation_ finally arrives, just in time to witness its own demise! And here I was worried that I'd have to text you a map and an invitation." He laughed harshly. Blood streamed from a gash on his shoulder.

"What is the meaning of this?" Sisko growled.

"Now now, you Federation lackey, you _dog_, you haven't any right to ask questions of me! Rather, you should be giving _me_ answers. Like why has the Federation abandoned its own citizens, its own colonies, in order to curry favor with the bastard _Cardies_!" Raw grief contorted the man's face. "We paid for that land with our own sweat and blood and children! And we were forgotten!"

"A Maquis," Kira whispered.

The man grinned evilly. "But apparently **Justice** hasn't forgotten us. With this special weapon we'll destroy you bastards. We'll make you suffer just as much as we have." His eyes flickered over to O'Brien. "How kind of you to bring your Chief Engineer along, Commander! I really didn't fancy having to get it out myself with all the nasty radiation and plasma floating in there."

"Get **what** out?" Sisko roared.

"Are you blind?" The man jerked his head towards the exposed fusion reactor, and Sisko squinted. The light was emanating from a foreign object that floating inside the reactor – it was shaped almost like a feather. "Now hurry up, Chiefy," the man hissed. "I don't have all day. If I get impatient, I'll just shrivel this pretty little girl allll up. Or maybe I'll blow us all to hell." He waved his device at the reactor. "Wouldn't it be fun to see what would happen if I just decided to vaporize all the fluid in there? I'm sure it would be _very_ scientifically enlightening."

Chief O'Brien's face paled. "No, it wouldn't! You'd cause a breach! This whole station would be destroyed!"

"_Then get me my feather._ **Now.**"

"It would take days! We'd have to power the reactor down, that would take at least forty-eight hours, then we'd have to wait for it to cool off so we could drain the plasma – we're talking at least a week!" the engineer protested.

"Too bad. I guess we'll all just die then." The man pointed his device at the reactor again.

"Wait. I'll get it for you if you promise not to hurt Sakura-chan."

Sisko stared in disbelief as the missing ex-prisoner suddenly appeared in the doorway, the white thing perched on his shoulder. Fai had an expression of calm on his face as he swiftly maneuvered around the crew and walked into the middle of the chamber, placing himself between the ninja and boy and the girl and the man.

The man stared at Fai suspiciously. "You can have her back alive if you hurry up."

"If you even get near that reactor, Fai, I'll have you shot," Sisko shouted. "I won't let you endanger this station."

Fai did not turn around. The sound of a long, melodic whistle filled the chamber, and a stream of light drifted out from his mouth and stretched towards the fusion reactor. The light slid through the reactor, and suddenly the feather phased through its walls. The light disappeared and the glowing feather began to drift towards Sakura and the man.

The man stared up at it, transfixed as it floated downwards. "Finally, mine, mine," he muttered, freeing Sakura from the headlock so he could stretch a hand out to catch the feather.

"OOOWWW!" the man yowled in pain as Sakura stomped on his foot with her reinforced leg and swiftly rammed an elbow back into his groin. The man dropped his gun reflexively, and Sakura kicked it away before she ran towards Fai. The boy dove to grab the gun while the ninja lunged for the man at an incredible speed. The man howled in pain again, and blood sprayed out from his right shoulder, his right arm cleanly severed and lying abandoned on the floor.

"You won't be threatening girls with that arm anymore, you bastard," the ninja growled as the man passed out. He disdainfully flicked his sword dry of blood.

Half the security guards rushed towards the unconscious man while the others waited for orders regarding the prisoners, who had regrouped in the middle of the room and stood warily watching them, swords still unsheathed. The feather glimmered in Sakura's hand. "It's mine. It's my memory," she said, her green eyes sorrowful as she met his eyes, and somehow Sisko knew then that she was every inch a princess. "I'm sorry it caused problems for you and put your station in danger. We'll be leaving now so we don't cause you anymore trouble." Then she held the feather to her chest, and Sisko watched in disbelief as it burrowed into her chest and disappeared with a flash of light. Sakura smiled tiredly as she fell over, unconscious. Fai caught her and cradled her in his arms, just the way he had been doing when Sisko had first seen him on the Promenade.

"You all have **a lot** of explaining to do," Sisko snapped.

"What needs to be explained?" Fai said smoothly. "We already told you our purpose was for the princess's spiritual health, and we've got what we came for. Now if you'll kindly excuse us, Commander, we have many other worlds to visit."

"Like hell. You'll give me my answers," Sisko said, jabbing his index finger at them, a very small part of his brain warning him that maybe he shouldn't threaten a magical vampire pirate.

"I don't like your way of obtaining answers," Fai said, narrowing his eye. "Mokona, now please."

"Okay!" The small white rabbit bounced up into the air, and a pair of enormous white wings blossomed from its back. It opened its mouth to an impossibly large size, creating a strange rift. Swirls of light like the one Fai had used earlier curled out of its mouth and around the four humans. An instant later, they disappeared. "Isn't Mokona amazing?" giggled the white rabbit, a second before it too disappeared into the rift, which sealed itself and faded away.

"That rabbit really was a transporter," O'Brien said.

"They really were on a spiritual journey," Kira said.

"Mokona really _is_ amazing," Sisko said softly, a touch of wonder in his voice. Then he chuckled to himself as he imagined how he'd enter this one into his logbook.

Maybe he wouldn't even try.

--The End.

* * *

Author's Notes:

I hope none of you were disappointed that I didn't explain how exactly the TRC gang escaped from their quarters _and _retrieved their swords. I couldn't since this was story was not told from their POV... so I'll leave it up to your imaginations. Also, I was hesitant to have Fai use his magic, but I couldn't figure out another way the feather could be quickly and safely retrieved from the reactor. Fai knew the villain really would have blown the reactor up – and thus he was willing to use his magic since the circumstances were so dire.


End file.
